the scholars, even though some people described as righteous have mentioned it. Rather, what is reported in the two Sahīh collections is that “he prayed in Jerusalem.”

This is a broad subject. It is well known that if supplication beside the graves of prophets and righteous people were better than supplication elsewhere, then praying in those places and taking them as places of worship ought to be recommended, for prayer is accompanied by supplication. Hence no Muslim says that supplication in a place where prayer is prohibited—such as camel resting places, graveyards, or places contaminated by ritual impurity—is better than supplication elsewhere. Whoever says this has defied the Messenger and made the polytheism and means leading to it that he prohibited equal or preferable to the affirmation of Allah’s oneness and worship of Him alone that he commanded.

It was through this opening that the hypocrites introduced into Islam what they did. The man who invented the religion of the Rāfidah was a Jewish heretic who outwardly professed Islam while concealing unbelief, scheming to corrupt the Muslims’ religion—just as Paul schemed to corrupt the Christians’ religion. He worked to stir up discord among the Muslims until ʿUthmān was killed. Among the believers are some who respond to the hypocrites, as Allah Most High says:

“Had they gone forth among you, they would only have added to your disorder and hurried about in your midst, seeking to stir up discord among you; and among you are those who would listen to them.”

Then, when the Muslim community became divided, he introduced his claims concerning designation and infallibility in the imamate, and began openly disparaging Abū Bakr and ʿUmar. These claims found receptive hearts marked by ignorance and injustice, even though they were not unbelieving hearts. Thus emerged the innovation of Shiism, which is the key to the door of polytheism.